


Homework

by Chasing_Crows



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Brotherhood, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Family, Family Issues, Gen, Homework, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings, Studying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28772616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Crows/pseuds/Chasing_Crows
Summary: Stan is struggling in school, and his mother recruits Ford to help him.
Relationships: Stan Pines & The Pines Family
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Homework

Ma was stirring what would soon be supper over the stove as Stan sat at the kitchen table, trying to make sense of the mess of numbers and letters on the page in front of him. As if math hadn’t already been tough enough, throwing the alphabet into the mix certainly wasn’t helping.

“Stanley, when you’re done with your homework could you please set the table?”

“Uh, yeah, I just finished,” he said, slamming his textbook shut. He put it on a nearby stool and tucked the assignment sheet underneath before grabbing four plates. In truth, he had barely gotten started with his work, but if he lied to Ma he could keep her off his case for the night.

Homework had always felt like nothing more than a waste of time, but when a note came home from school explaining he was failing math, Stan knew he had to start putting in enough effort to pass. He didn’t care how well he could solve equations or understand what each calculation meant, but if he got an F as his final grade, that meant repeating the course, and then everyone at school would think he was more stupid than they already did. He didn’t need to be a brainiac like his twin, but being held back would be humiliating, and it wasn’t like the Pines boys didn’t already have more than their fair share of humiliation at school. As if any negative consequences from his classmates wouldn’t be bad enough, it would also be nothing compared to how his father would react.

Once the table had been set, supper went by smoothly. His father was in a good enough mood, and Stan stayed mostly quiet so he wouldn’t get too much attention put on himself. Once everyone was finished with their meal, Ma had Ford clear the table.

Finally free, Stan was just about to set off for his bedroom when his mother reached for his homework on the stool. “Stanley, take this with you and put it away.” She didn’t see the assignment sheet hidden under the textbook, so when she took the book the unfinished sheet stared up at her. She barely had to glance at it before she tucked it between the pages of the textbook. Filbrick was still in the kitchen getting himself a glass of water, and Stan internally thanked his mother for not bringing this up in front of him. “Here,” and as she handed her son the book she gave him a glare from the very depths of hell.

Stan took his homework and set off for his bedroom as quickly as he could without raising any suspicion. He had dodged a bullet from his father, but with Ma catching him in his lie he knew it would be only a matter of time before he’d be in some kind of trouble.

\- - -

Once he was safely in his room, he cracked the textbook open again and hoped something would finally click. He was sure his mother would come for him soon, so he might as well try to make some progress first.

With the threat of failure looming over him, he had been trying to pay attention in school more, but after the first few minutes of class the teacher would always lose him and Stan was left to hopelessly wrestle with the problems on his own. He dared not ask for help since it would only bring attention to his lack of understanding, so he resolved to tough it out and muddle through the problems at home.

After about fifteen minutes of reading the same page over and over, he thought he was in the clear, but a knock at his door sent his heart racing and he braced himself for whatever scolding, punishment, or shame that was about to come. His mother entered and shut the door behind her, trapping Stan with a fuming Ma.

“Stanley, you lied to me,” was all she said.

“Uhhh, yeah, when I said I was finished, what I meant is I was finished with the work I was going to do before supper.”

“You and I both know that’s not true, so cut the crap. You were sitting at the table for an hour before supper staring at those problems. I know you’re struggling in math class, so why not ask your brother for help?”

Stan’s fear turned to anger. He didn’t want to ask his genius brother for help with problems that shouldn’t be this hard for him. He was fine with Ford being ahead of him in school, but admitting he couldn’t do the most basic of problems by himself made Stan feel defeated. “No, I can figure it out on my own. I was just reading the textbook closely so I could get everything right the first time.”

“I saw that note your teacher wrote and I haven’t told your father, but if you can’t pull your grades up you’ll have to repeat the course. You might be in the clear for now, but if you can’t turn this around he’s going to find out eventually.”

“Ma, stop worrying. I’ll get it all figured out, I swear.”

“Show me your assignment,” she demanded with an outstretched hand. Stan couldn’t do anything but hand it over, and when she saw he was in the same spot as before, all she did was drop the paper and leave.

Stan picked up the assignment and tried to refocus, but before he could concentrate, his door swung open and Ford was thrust into the room.

“You boys will work on that assignment together, and if you don’t finish it before I go to bed, I’m telling your father about the lie you told me today, Stanley.”

Stan froze, terrified by the prospect. “Ma, no!”

“Then finish your assignment,” and with that she clicked the door behind her and left the pair of stunned twins alone.

“Uh, so Ma said I have to help with math,” Ford said after a minute of uncomfortable silence.

Stan folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t need help.”

“Come on, I can explain it and then you can move on. I don’t want you to fail and get in trouble with Pa, so let’s just get it over with.”

“Fine, if it means you and Ma will leave me alone about it.”

Ford nodded and pulled the assignment towards him to see what Stan was stuck on. While Ford was already breezing through calculus, Stan was embarrassed to have him step so far backwards to help him- it was like if his twin had to show Stan how to tie his shoes.

“Okay,” Ford pointed at the first problem on the page, “do you know where to start with this one?”

Stan had nothing written down, and since the answer was obviously no he didn’t even bother to lie. “Ummm, not really.”

Ford began to walk through what the problem meant and how to solve it step by step. A lot of what Ford said was lost on Stan at first, but his brother was going much slower than his teacher did, and with a few questions things actually started to make sense. He wrote down each step, and with Ford’s careful explanation, Stan was thrilled to find he could work through the problem all by himself. On his own he had been stuck for a couple hours, but with the help of his twin he was able to work through the entire assignment in only half an hour. Once finished, Stan’s embarrassment subsided as he felt more confident with his skills by seeing it wasn’t impossible.

“See, it’s not so bad once you walk through it bit by bit. I know you hate math, but you’re not bad at it- you just need to be patient and tackle the problem one step at a time. You know, if you ever need more help you can just ask,” and Ford offered his brother a weak smile.

Stan scratched the back of his head and looked around the room, avoiding his twin’s eye all the while. “Yeah, uh, thanks,” was all he could manage to say before he took off with his assignment to show Ma and save his hide for the night. He didn’t want to make a habit of asking Ford for help, but he did feel good about actually understanding the content. He could hardly believe himself, but he was even looking forward to his next math test so he could prove he did know something, after all.

\- - -

Stan was floors below the Earth’s surface as he sat amongst an explosion of open textbooks and scattered notes. He had no idea how the portal worked, but if he had broken it, the first step of getting his brother back was to fix it. He had read Ford’s notes countless times, but he still couldn’t get the pieces to connect in his mind. He felt like a confused boy in school again as he tried to sort out what the jumble of numbers, letters, and symbols he had never even seen before meant. If it took a super-genius like his twin to build the portal, how was a failure like him supposed to get it up and running again?

Stan took a deep breath and turned to a basic physics book he found part of the collection in the lab. He vaguely recognized it as Ford’s textbook from high school, and while he would have previously teased his brother for hanging onto such an old thing, he was now thankful for the book leagues below what his twin was capable of understanding. Stan groaned when he thought of starting from the beginning in order to eventually understand all the complexities of the portal, but if he wanted to save Ford from whatever was out there, he supposed the beginning was the best place to start. Stan picked up a pencil, turned to a blank notebook page, and started reading.

_Physics, in the most basic terms, is the study of matter and energy. This book will serve as an introduction to the field while leaning heavily on the pillars of calculus- ___

__“Damn!” Stan slammed the book shut and pounded his fists onto his thighs. Of course, he couldn’t even start at the beginning since he didn’t know any calculus to use as a foundation. Ford had breezed through calculus when they were teenagers and was able to study on his own and learn much more than their high school could offer, but Stan had never made it anywhere even close to that level. A few frustrated tears escaped his eyes and Stan wiped them away, not wanting to get upset over something as stupid as math._ _

__He took another deep breath and went to Ford’s bookshelf. Okay, so this was going to take longer than he thought, but he could still figure it out on his own. His fingers brushed over the spines until he landed a section of books that all read “calculus”. He picked up the leftmost one and flipped through the first few pages. Like the physics book, this one must have been Ford’s first calculus textbook from high school, and he silently thanked his brother for shelving his books in order so he didn’t have to page through them all to find the most basic one._ _

__Sighing, Stan went back to his study spot. He settled down surrounded by pages filled with Ford’s handwriting so he could mark anything the textbook might reference. He picked up his pencil and notebook once again, and he started to read from page one. It was a struggle, and he thought of how if Ford were here he would be able to explain things to him in a way that made more sense, but Ford wasn’t here, and if he was Stan wouldn’t need to study in the first place. This was no time to wallow in his miserable catch-22, though, so Stan steeled himself for a long night of homework ahead. Stan didn’t know how much he would have to learn to fix everything, but no matter how long that journey would be, he was prepared to take things one step at a time until he arrived at the end._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this gave me flashbacks to high school- physics was the worst! I would have failed that class if I hadn't already taken calculus, plus my best friend was wonderful enough to help me with my homework whenever I was lost. Anyway, keeping in line with Stan not bring what he seems, I think he's much smarter than he lets on since he was able to get the portal up and running again, but it must have taken him a lot of hard work and long nights of studying to get there.


End file.
